AsparagusGrowing

Asparagus is a vegetable, actually a grass. Growing it is supposed to be difficult, but is actually a task I know nothing about. AsparagusGrowing, for me, is the archetypal irrelevant activity - I don't know why.

-- JimBullock 17-Sept-2002

I used to tend an asparagus bed that was over 100 years old and still producing. It's not a lot of work, and the rewards are great and delicious. You can get both white and green asparagus out of the same bed, which should please a chef like JimBullock. - JerryWeinberg 2002.09.17

Jim

A friend of mine once felt the archetypal irrelvant activity might be raking the sand in the ashtrays at hotels and stamping the logo on the clean sand. I always liked that. - BeckyWinant Sept 17,02

Since asparagus is so yummy, I don't see how growing it would be an irrelevant activity. Growing raspberries on the other hand . . . - ShannonSeverance 2002.09.17

Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons gave me the impression that it isn't hard to grow the stuff. Now-a-days, you don't know what chemicals might have been dumped into road-side ditches, so you probably should be more careful of where you reap than Mr. Gibbons was.

KeithRay 2002.08.17

Didn't Euell Gibbons die of ulcers, eventually? Around the same time as Fixx (sp?) the jogging guy died of a heart attack? Irony runs amok it seems, which has been the theme of my little life for the last year or so.

So, I'm going to have to come up with a better archetypal irrelevant activity it seems. Thing is, a great deal of my youth was spent in lawn maintenance, snow removal, dishwashing, and facilities repair at the small resort my parents' owned. They're all repetitive tasks, that get undone as soon as they are done, and are varying degrees of pointless even when the "done" state persists. I have never understood the appeal of a great expanse of flawless, even-heighted green grass. Oh, yeah. Laundry and making beds.

Even software maintenance in a dysfunctional organization seems productive and purposeful by comparison with these activites. At least I don't have to do software stuff out in the cold.

So, I need a really good arctypal irrelevant activity (It's all about performance now. Can you say: "Overachiever?") At the moment, thanks to all the preceeding advice, the leading candidate for my new, improved archetypal irrelevant activity is pressing hotel logos into ashtray sand. Further suggestions are hereby solicited.

Until then, I'll get right on this current best thing. There's got to be one (hotel style ashtray) on e-bay.

- JimBullock, 18-Sept-2002

Jim - You have it already (just click your heels together two times and say: there is no activity like an irrelevent activity...) and it is searching for the best irrelevent activity. BobKing 2002.18.200

Jim - If you need an irrelevant activty, try either sailing (small boats) or horses (trail riding, not show stuff). Either one has a pace that won't sustain hyperactivity, and allows your eyes to change focus from text on a screen. You can invest (nearly) unlimited irrelevant activity in either:

cleaning stalls & tack - a hole in the ground you throw money into
cleaning decks & hulls - a hole in the water you throw money into

You also have to let up on control fantasies with either - go where they can and will go with influence rather than micromanagement.

Downside: you can acquire an unseemly tan instead of software pallor with either. Lowers your acceptability with the nerd herd.

Your mileage may vary, but that was your idea, wasn't it?

--BobLee 2002-09-18

Jim, what you really want to do is be a parsley farmer, but not in Sweden. There, they actually eat the stuff (deep fried is delicious). - JerryWeinberg 2002.09.18

Such wonderful advice! Such experts on irrelevance. Such depth. Such creativity. Such caring. I'm feeling the love here.

Best of all, if we agree with BobKing's observation, well, I've dragged you all with me. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha. "Join me Luke. Feel the power of the irrlelvant side."

- JimBullock, 19-Sept-2002

Updated: Thursday, September 19, 2002